PVC: Group calls for urgent registration
A group under the aegis of the Coalition of Northern Groups has asked northerners to get permanent voter cards (PVCs) to vote for credible leaders.
The spokesperson for the group, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, made the call while addressing a news conference in Kano on Monday.
He said the call was necessary because getting Permanent Voter Cards is the surest way to ensure good governance and leadership that could check the current security and other challenges pervading the region.
“We want to caution the North against voter apathy in the coming elections and call on northerners to register massively for Permanent Voter Cards as the only sure way of ensuring leadership that will address our limitations.
“We also note the likelihood of voter apathy in the North with the current lower participation in the ongoing update of voter registration compared to other parts of the country.
“Hence our decision to call on eligible voters to obtain the card.
“We want to remind the northern voter to be vigilant with the direction of his voting by refusing to be pinned to political party specifics and going for candidates with pronounced credibility, competence, and capacity.
“A candidate with the antecedent of implied lyrics and expressly identifying with their problems of security, the economy, and education.
“We wish to remind Nigerians of the danger of risking their collective future by not critically assessing and evaluating the credentials of the candidates presented by the parties in terms of capacity, competence, integrity, and merit before making a choice,” Suleiman said.
The group condemned in strong terms the monetisation of politics and compromise of the party delegates and called for a thorough investigation into how money has been used in recent primary elections by aspirants.
He said the investigation was necessary to find out whether the prescribed protocols, as stated in the Electoral Act, were violated or not.
“To categorically state that the operational system by which a negligible few enjoy the sole prerogative for imposing candidates on the larger majority shall never endure and must be rejected,” he said.
He added that the CNG fully supported and welcomed the adoption of the popular demand for the open democratic practice of allowing all eligible candidates from every section of the country, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or class, the opportunity to aspire for offices in the various political parties.
Punch/Suzan O.
